Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I bet you are wondering how the dye job went.......well, it took me three tries to get it so that I wouldn't cry when I looked at her.

I started off by doing just the end and it grabbed waaay too much green and turned dark very quickly. So, I sat and thought about it for a minute and decided to go to the other end of the spectrum with some soft orange, which did help, but then the tips were VERY different from the rest of the stole, so I added a bit more orange and reversed directions, putting the rest of the stole in the dyepot and keeping the darker end out.

It was ok....but the bottom was still a good bit darker than the rest of the stole...so I cried a bit and had a cup of tea to relax and regroup. When an hour had come and gone, I finally decided to take a breath and go a shade deeper than orange and headed towards a toffee color.

Immediately I knew that this was going to fix the discrepancy in color....but I was still sad that she was not the color she was supposed to be.

I put the bigger part of the stole in the dyepot and let it simmer for a bit and then I put the bottom in for the last few minutes. (kind of like pulling the color thru your hair after it has sat on the roots for a bit).

While Bee is a good bit darker than I had envisioned her to be, she is still the
golden color of honey in the comb as seen in this picture that I snagged from a bee blog that I read. I hope Becky doesn't mind :) Actually this will be a very nice colorway for fall, don't you think?

I am going to take some nice pictures of Bee outside if it ever stops raining. I don't know how it is in other parts of the country, but here in Northern NH, it has basically been a continuation of what we saw this winter, except instead of snow it has been rain, rain, rain and more rain. It's has also been very humid which I really hate. Not very good for the garden either. (more on that another day)

We hare heading out tomorrow morning for a dog show in NJ. Coming with us on this trip is the newest member of Ballymena Cavaliers.

Meet little Miss Gypsy :). Her registered name is Marjorelle Travelin' Show and let me tell you, this little one is full of beans for sure!

I have been trying to be a better blogger, so I have actually blogged ahead a few days for when I will be away. I have heard it takes 21 days to make something a habit...at least I think it was 21, so I am trying to keep on track. :)

Monday, August 04, 2008

I bet you can........and you would be right. I ran out of yarn for the last 5 or so inches on my beloved Bee.

Now, I will be honest, I thought I was going to be able to squeak by with a 1200 yard skein, even though the pattern calls for 1400 yards, as I know Anne is always generous with her yardage amounts. I almost made it....but alas, almost is not quite enough.

So I fired up the dye pot last week and tossed in a small skein.....argghh.... too dark. Another small skein.....again, too dark. The third skein, I felt pretty good about and it is the one that I used, but as you can see it was not quite close enough.

The good thing ...........I think I can fix this with a mini dye job. Kind of like getting your roots done in the salon :). Of course my DH thinks I am nuts to bother.....but my feeling is, if I worked this hard on something, I don't want the one little flaw glaring at me when I wear it. I bet you feel the same way too.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

As I finish up a few projects I have been working on during the month of July, I am looking forward to starting a few new things. This sweater that is featured in the new Knitty caught my eye. Having spent a lot of time lately knitting lace projects, I am anxious to try a few new things.

I know it's hard to believe, but I have never worked with any of the Rowan yarns other than Kidsilk, so I am really looking forward to starting this sweater.....but not until I finish Bee, which will happen today...whoo hoo!

In the past I mentioned a little theatre that we have up here in the Mountains called Stone Mountain Arts Center. I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have this little gem up here.

Last month Ken and I went to see Nanci Griffith, an old favorite of mine there and last night we saw The Cowboy Junkies.....they were fabulous! Go take a peak at their new album.

I will leave you with one of my all time favorites of theirs. This song brings me back to a time in my life that was filled with turmoil....but when I hear this song I think of the precious days that were spent on the beach with my children...the only sanity that I had during that time......it still makes me smile.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Storm breaks into pieces,Clouds charge the horizon.Revolving of the heavensGenerates all movement.

Without movement, there could be nothing created in the universe. The revolving of the heavens can generate wind, rain, thunder, lightning. The revolving of the earth enables us to have day and night, the very cycle of the weather, the seasons, and the growth of plants. Movement is responsible for creativity.Deng Ming~Dao

It's time for me to get moving again to stir up some creativity! July has been a quiet month with ups and downs, but relaxing all the same. It is nice however to be back!!

I have zero'd out my bloglines and am looking forward to getting caught back up with you all in blogland :);